Lang Street, once called Winnipesaukec Street designating
its terminus, was named for Joseph Whidden Lang, who developed
the neighborhood with Amos Cram in the 1850s. Probably
the first house on the street was the Cox house (No. 24),
which Mr. Lang moved from Main Street in order to clear
a site for his new store. Later that decade the first
Meredith Meetinghouse was moved to Lang Street from its
original site opposite the town pound on Parade Road.
It was used by the Freewill Baptists and later as a gymnasium
for Meredith High School. Its lot at the head of Oak Street
has remained vacant since it was torn down in the early
1980s. One of the most recent buildings on Lang Street
is the former Lang Street School (pictured), opened in
1925. Its form and details resemble an enlarged bungalow,
a popular building type during that period. It was recently
converted to a children's museum.
Just south of the old school is the so-called
Bixby House, originally built by library donor Benjamin
M. Smith and later owned by his Bixby relatives. Lang
Street includes one of the most popular housing types
in Meredith Village. Much of the west side of the street
is lined with 1 1/2 story houses, sited gable-end to the
street, with smaller, offset rear ells and, in some instances,
attached barns. This type of house was common throughout
northern New England villages in the second half of the
19th century, in part because it adapted well to narrower
urban lots. Across the street at 10 and 12 Lang Street
is the same basic house, only a story higher and with
more decorative detailing. Note the bracketed doorhoods,
corner pilasters, heavily molded window caps and side
porches - all features common to the Italianate style
which dominated much of northern New England in the 1860s
and '70s.
Lang Street can be
found by taking Route 3 to Lake Street. Turn left onto
Lake Street & Lang Street is the first left.
